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Poster:	srtg83	Date:	June 18, 2009 09:50:06pm
Forum:	GratefulDead	Subject:	Re: TDIH another fine show

I was fortunate enough to be at all 4 SPAC shows. This one had the same juiced feel as the MSG shows from this period. The band picked up on the energy of the scene pretty quick, see the in between verse Scarlet jam, and seemed to play with a certain recklessness. Phil in particular loved Saratoga and played one of his better shows here with the Q in 2001.

This show in '83 has a real nasty quality to it. Listen to the Wise pull with headphones and you will understand. During the Playin' jam, the only time I had ever seen it at a show, people were literally frightened around me, some were scrambling to get out of the pavilion onto the lawn. I also saw stretchers used by security to subdue and remove people from the venue, half a dozen at a time. The sheer lunacy that went on at this show was only rivaled by the happenings at SPAC in 1985 and the now infamous crashing of the balcony. This was all before the `touchheads`entered the scene. The fact that the venue banned the band for the following 3 years only added to the legend. In the otherwise lame year of 1988 the scene at SPAC was, again, out of control. Due to the way this venue set up in the forest and the monuments at the gates, there was simply no way to control gate-crashing. By the time the second set started in 1988 it seemed that the crowd doubled in size. After getting back to Toronto, the local paper here reported gate crashing at Saratoga of over 10,000 fans. Needless to say the band never played there again.

I really do not know what it was about this venue. I saw a lot of shows during this period, but nothing compared to Saratoga.